Busted Flat Records
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The World Record Players
For the past several years, The World Record Players have been more of a fraternity than a band. It's a name that was first used by J. Schneider and Jeff Cowell, when they became the rhythm section for V2 recording artist Shannon Lyon, but it has come to include a wide circle of musicians from the Kitchener-Waterloo scene and beyond.
"It's just a loose concept because I never wanted to lead my own band," Schneider, also the "alt-country expert" for Exclaim Magazine, and co-author of the CanRock history tome Have Not Been The Same, says. "I'm a big fan of collaboration and I've gotten to know so many great musicians over the years that getting a bunch of them together to work on a project seemed really appealing."
Taking a cue from classic homespun-sounding albums like The Band's Music From Big Pink, The Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet, and Wilco's Being There, Schneider and Cowell began putting down ideas in the summer of 2002 following a tour of Europe with Lyon, who chose to stay there at its conclusion. The pair eventually enlisted the help of Kitchener singer-songwriter Mike Alviano, also a former bandmate of Lyon's, who had several songs to contribute that were left over from his first solo album, Jubilee. With basic tracks cut in Cowell's basement with the trio playing a multitude of instruments, it then was time for Schneider to start making some calls.
"It's funny that I was picturing who I wanted to get on certain songs before we even started recording them," Schneider says. "For lead guitar, my first choice was Travis Good from The Sadies, because nobody plays like him. Luckily, Bob Egan was doing some shows with them, so we were able to record the two of them together. That was a great day at Travis' house, which is out in the middle of nowhere. His dad, Bruce Good of the Good Brothers made us pizza."
Egan, of course, is the ubiquitous pedal steel wizard of Blue Rodeo and Wilco fame, but additional steel was added by Dutchman Harry Breckelmans. "We'd played with Harry in Europe and it was magic every night. I'd definitely rate him as high as any Nashville Cat. It worked out great because he came back with Shannon last Christmas to do some shows and we were able to get him on the songs Bob didn't have time to do."
Rounding out the cast is Ian Smith of soon-to-be legendary The Miniatures, who adds a majestic classic rock flair to several tracks, and Schneider and Cowell's former Fat Cats bandmates, keyboardist Tyler Gibson and guitarist/vocalist Chris Gatchene. "To have all those guys participate was really like bringing our past and present together," Schneider says. "The scene around here has always been a little fragmented, but I was really pleased that we could find so much common ground with our music."
Of Schneider's nine compositions on the album, most were written during or immediately after a trip he took to Woodstock, NY to write a piece on The Band's Garth Hudson that appeared in The Globe & Mail. As he states in the liner notes, the 10-hour train ride allowed him to reflect on his love of The Band's music and the spirit that Woodstock always represented. He wasn't disappointed, especially by the generosity of Garth and his wife Maud, although unfortunately, arrangements couldn't be finalized to have him play on the album. Still, songs like "Angel Of Avalon," "Coal Porter Blues" and "Farmer Girl," resonate with that spirit.
There is much more to the album, though. "Pretty Messed Up," "It's Time," and "Driving Wheel," are hard-edged country-rock; "Green Fields In Daylight" and "Azalea" are paisley-tinged power-pop; "The Dying Soldier" is a bare-bones stab at bluegrass; and "Heard A Message" is a moody studio experiment. All in all, Introducing The World Record Players is the kind of album few bands are able (or willing) to make nowadays.
"I'm always amazed at how linear most new releases sound," Schneider concludes. "I mean, nobody freaked out whenever Led Zeppelin used mandolins or pedal steel. We're not consciously trying to be retro or even be that diverse. We feel like we know what we're capable of doing and the job is just to augment that as best we can. To me it just makes sense that whatever sound is needed to suit the song, then that's what should be done. I'm hoping we can get more people involved on the next one. The more the merrier."
Although Schneider and Cowell will continue to play with Lyon, look for separate World Record Players dates to also occur in the near future.